Thursday, May 28, 2015

STATE
CAPITOL, PHOENIX – During the meeting of the Arizona Legislature’s Child
Safety Oversight Committee, Rep. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Phoenix (District 30), renewed
her call to agency officials and the governor to provide more timely access to
information critical for the assessment of the Department of Child Safety’s
ability to protect children.

“We
are coming up on the one-year anniversary of the creation of the Department of
Child Safety,” McCune Davis said. “And we are still hearing truly upsetting
reports. For us to best identify and correct any lingering issues that may be
jeopardizing the safety of Arizona children, we need an accurate accounting of
the situation the department is facing.”

McCune
Davis acknowledged the importance of the assessment tool, known as a dashboard,
which the committee is developing to measure the progress of the agency based
on semi-annual reports. She added that critical information is also needed on a
monthly basis.

She
and House Democratic Leader Eric Meyer, D-Paradise Valley (District 28),
recently sent
two requests to the governor and to the Department of Child Safety director
requesting monthly reports to help legislators and the public gain a complete
understanding of urgent and critical situations affecting thousands of
children. The legislators requested 25 items be reported monthly. During the hearing, McCune Davis asked the
department to prioritize reporting the following 10 items from that initial
list:

Number of abuse and neglect
reports

Caseload average per full-time
employee

Number of children entering
foster care

Number of children leaving foster
care

Total number of children in
foster care (including unlicensed kinship placements)

Total number of families
receiving in-home services

Percentage of the children
entering foster care who are placed in congregate care

Total non-active cases

Net change in the number of
foster homes

Number of children sleeping at
emergency sites and offices

“Monthly
reporting is a way for us to measure the department’s progress. It is vital for
the public and for legislators to know that the department has the resources
necessary to protect children,” McCune Davis said. “It’s been a year, are Arizona
kids safer?”

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Republican leaders in Arizona continue
to blame their decision to gut support for the state’s neediest families on
an impending budget deficit. The truth is they could have made other choices in
the budget instead of swiping money from single mothers and their children.

TANF provides cash assistance for the most poverty-stricken
families. The average benefit people, including children, receive is less
than $92 per month. The money is often used to
put food on the table. The Republicans have sent a clear message about their
priorities.

Based on their other budget decisions, it seems they would
rather support tax cuts for insurance companies and big corporations than help
our state’s poorest single mothers and children make ends meet. This attack on
the poor was not necessary. Thiswas a choice.

To find ways to get involved, have your voice heard and tell
your representatives what your priorities are, click here and be heard.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX
–
Rep. Reginald Bolding, D-Phoenix (District 27), is urging police departments
across the state to use a new online
body-worn camera toolkit recently published by Arizona State University
professors.

“This
toolkit offers an important opportunity for police departments in Arizona and
across the nation,” Bolding said. “The professors who developed it understand
this issue well.”

One
of the authors of the toolkit was also the primary researcher in a study of the
use of body-worn cameras that spanned 15 months. The study’s
findings showed that cameras:

Increased productivity
significantly

Decreased the number of
complaints against officers wearing the cameras

Increased officer accountability

Increased the effectiveness of
criminal prosecution

Bolding
is a vocal advocate for the use of body-worn cameras.

“I’ve
had many conversations with people in my district who are concerned about the
number of police-involved shootings,” Bolding said. “And I have talked to law
enforcement officers who want the public to be more engaged in protecting their
communities. The use of body-worn cameras helps foster a more trusting
relationship between law enforcement officers and the community.”

Earlier
this year, Bolding introduced a bill, HB 2511, that would have required local
and state law enforcement officers to wear body cameras while on duty, to
ensure both their own safety and the safety of the communities they protect. It
would have also established a study committee for law enforcement officer use
of body-worn cameras. While Bolding’s
bill did not pass, the Legislature did approve a Senate bill that created a study
committee similar to the one Bolding proposed. Bolding said he expects the
committee will recommend the use of the new toolkit.

“The
practice of wearing body cameras speaks directly to the safety and
accountability needs of both community members and law enforcement officers,”
Bolding said. He added that he intends to offer a bill to require the use of
body-worn cameras again next year.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Arizona has the dubious distinction of being first in the
nation for college budget cuts and tuition hikes. So once again, the state is garnering
national attention for the wrong reasons. The headlines could have been
different. For years, Republican leaders chose to cut education – showing that
they have no real plan to invest in the future of our children or our
state.

A new
report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that when
states divest from universities they make college less accessible for students
and jeopardize economic stability. The
report identifies Arizona as the worst offender.

“These (budget) cuts led to steep tuition increases that
threaten to put college out of reach for more students. They also raise
concerns about diminishing the quality of education at a time when a highly
educated workforce is more crucial than ever to the nation’s economic future.”

Monday, May 11, 2015

Arizona’s Republican leaders spent a good amount of time
patting themselves on their backs after Moody’s Investors Service, a credit
rating provider, increased the state’s credit outlook last week to “stable.”
The governor celebrated this news, calling it a “testament
to the good work we’ve done.”

He has said repeatedly that they had to make tough
choices to balance the budget. He
and legislative Republicans did have to make choices. They chose to rush
the budget process, and they chose to try to balance the budget on the
backs of Arizona’s school kids.

Instead of slashing education and social safety net programs,
Republicans could have stopped special interest tax credits and closed tax
loopholes that cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars. If they had done
that, they could have invested more in education, which is the real solution
for economic recovery. Research
shows a positive relationship between education and economic opportunities
. Education is the best way to build a foundation for economic success.

So we think the Republican celebration may be a little
premature. In their descriptions, they seemed to have left out the part of the
Moody’s report indicating that the
credit rating could go back down if:

The budget is not
structurally balanced and/or the reserves are further depleted

The state faces a
significant increase in funding requirements for Medicaid, education or
other mandated services

The state’s economic
recovery stalls

Arguably, the state’s budget is not actually structurally
balanced. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) reported that a law the
governor signed after the budget will leave the state’s budget structurally imbalanced
for years. The Legislature also passed several other bills after the budget was
signed that will affect
the General Fund.

Moody’s report also listed the state’s ongoing K-12
inflation funding litigation as a potential challenge. The Republicans included
$74 million for this obligation in the budget but a judge ruled the state owes
the schools more than $300
million. This would impact the state’s reserves.

Arizona’s economic future will remain in jeopardy until
funding education becomes a priority for the Republicans. So while the news
from Moody’s is positive, it comes with a number of caveats. When the
Republicans attempted to balance the budget by sacrificing support for
education, they set the state up for future failure.

Those who are touting this as proof of “The Great Recovery”
may want to put the party hats away… at least for right now. There is still a
lot of work to do. To learn how to get involved to make education a priority at
the Legislature, click here.

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Larkin applauds judge
and ABOR for decision to provide in-state tuition for ‘dreamers’

STATE
CAPITOL, PHOENIX –
Rep. Jonathan Larkin, D-Glendale (District 30), released this statement after a
judge and the Arizona Board of Regents decided that “dreamers” are eligible for
in-state tuition at state universities and Maricopa Community Colleges.

“I
commend Judge Anderson and the Arizona Board of Regents for making a fair decision.
This should immediately clear the way for other community colleges to offer
in-state tuition rates for dreamers. These decisions send a symbolic message
that the young immigrants granted deferred deportation status have proven they
are productive members of our communities. They have embraced our country’s ideals of
hard work and service. We should ensure they are able to maximize their potential.
Arizona can only benefit from a more educated workforce.

“Making
college more accessible to dreamers will strengthen Arizona, as it will allow
them to pursue careers and continue to contribute to our economy. I call on
other community colleges in the state to follow suit immediately.”

Friday, May 01, 2015

Last
week, Northern Arizona University President Rita Cheng announced that the
university would eliminate
60 positions and that all academic departments would have to cut their
spending by 4.5 percent. “There
is no way around it,” The Daily Sun quoted her saying.

There
is no way around it for NAU, despite the four percent increase in tuition approved
by the Board of Regents (ABOR) on Monday, because of the staggering
disinvestment from higher education since 2008 on the part of Arizona’s
Republican leaders. ABOR’s explanation
of the tuition changes can be found here. Here are some highlights:

Arizona State University: A new,
one-time fee raises the cost of attending to $10,478 for Arizona residents, about 3
percent higher than last year.

University of Arizona: New Arizona
resident undergraduates will pay $11,403, about 4 percent more than last
year.

You
can also see the Arizona Republic’s reporting on the tuition increases here.

Between
2008 and 2014, state spending per student in higher education dropped more than
48 percent, the highest decrease in the U.S.
And the tuition increases at Arizona universities have been even more
astonishing: the cost
of attendance has increased by almost $4500 dollars, or more than 80
percent. This session alone, the
Republican Legislature cut another 13 percent—$99 million—from state university
budgets.

The
trends in state funding, tuition rates and student debt demonstrate that higher
education opportunities are not a priority for Arizona’s Republican leaders. This
disinvestment is bad news for the entire state: according to a recent study, 68
percent of all jobs in Arizona will require post-secondary education by
2020. Yet only about 54 percent
of high school graduates go directly to college and even fewer, less than 25
percent, earn degrees within six years of finishing high school. Moreover, research has repeatedly
demonstrated that the consequences of student loan debt include lower
household net worth and reduced
rates of home ownership.

Republican
leaders attempted to justify the most recent round of education budget cuts by
claiming they had no other options. That
is simply not true and Arizona deserves better.
If you would like to get involved in protecting Arizona’s economic
future, click
here to find ways to ensure your voice is heard.